Hopple.



110.741.023. f PATENTBD UGT: 1a, 190s. s. PILBBY. HUPPLB.

APPLICATION FILED NAYS, 1902.

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l No. 741,023.

e UNrrED STATES Patented October 13, 1903.

FRANK FILBEY, OF WEST MILTON, OHIO,

HOPPLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 741,023, dated October 13, 1.903.

Application ned Mey e, 1902. serif-.i No. 105,713. (No man.)

vTo a/ZZ whom it may u/cern:

Be it known that I, FRANK FILBEY, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of West Milton, in the county of Miami and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hopples, of which the followingis a specili'cation. The object of my invention is a means for adjusting the length of hopples which may be easily and quicklyoperated for that purpose and which does lnot weaken the strap.

Heretofore the means f for adjusting the length of hopples have been lacings or buckles with tongues, with which it Was necessary to perforate the strap. The buckles and the lacings took time to change when it was desired to shorten or lengthen the hopple and likewise weaken the strap because of the perforations necessary for their use.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a hopple embodying my invention, a horse being shown in dotted line, so as to indicate the manner of applying it to make a horse pace. Fig. 2 is a detail edge View of my means for adjusting the length of the hopple upon an enlarged scale. Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the same, and Fig. 4 isaview similar to Fig. 2 of a somewhat modied form.

Referring to the parts, loops A A' are to fit around the hind legs of the horse, loops A2 A8 over the front legs, and the hopple is to be sustained in position bystraps B B', passing over the horses back, and bystraps B2, secured to a collar O around the horses neck, and by straps B3 in the rear. The parts thus far spoken of are of ordinary construction and need not, thereforegbe more specifically described.

The strap a, secured to or formed integral with loop A, has at its other end a loop 0,', which passes over the cross-bar d of a slipbuckle D. The strap a2, secured to or formed integral With the Aloop A2, has a loop a3 at its other end which passes over the cross-bar d' of a slip-buckle D. In passing forward to buckle D strap ci. passes over loop a3 between the ends d2 d3 and cross-bar d of slip-buckle D. Likewise in passing to buckle D strap a2 passes over loop a between ends d4 d5 and cross-bar d of buckle D. The straps connecting loop A A3 are arranged in the same mannerY as these just described. In the forms shown in Figs. 2 and 3 each of straps au? is doubled upon itself and cemented, leaving the loops a3 a at the ends. In the forms shown in Fig. 4 the straps are doubled only at the ends to form loops a3 a'. The slipbuckles are formed, preferably, With the sides 6 having a slight curve'in them, so as to bring the ends in a different planerfrom the crossbar, so that in use the hopple is not much of a straight line at the point where the straps cross each other. In use when it is desired to change the length of the hopple it is necessary only to slip buckle D along on strap a2 and buckle D along on strap a. This operation may be performed only when there is no tension on the hopple. As soon as a tension is brought on the hopple the buckles stand securely in place and cannot be moved ou straps. It is readily seen that the adjustment as to length may be made very quickly and easily. The absence of perforations in the straps retains the original strength of the strap. This point of the strap is that upon which the greatest strain is brought tobear, so that having it strong at this part is a great advantage. Itis obvious that many more mechanical changes might be made in the device shown Without departing from spirit or scope of my invention, so that I do not desire to be limited to the specific forms shown; but

What I claim is- In a hopple the combination of a strap having a loop to passover the rear leg of a horse and having a loop at the other end passing over the cross-bar of a slip-buckle, the slip- "buckle, a second strap having a loop to be passed over the front leg of a horse and having at its other end a similar loop passing over the cross-bar of a second slip-buckle, and the second slip-buckle, the first strap passing through the second slip-buckle over the loop secured to its cross-bar and the second strap passing through the first slipbuckle over the loop secured to its cross-bar, substantially as shown and described.

FRANK EILBEY. 

